Of All Things
by maravelous
Summary: AU; And so, a tale full of taste. — NejiTen ; For Angel
1. Almond

_Dedicated to FallenAngel92: Unbelievably talented, a perfect collaboration partner, and as sweet as cheesecake._

Of All Things

Almond:

"Hey, you stepped on our blown-up condom!"

Great. This was by far the _best_ welcome TenTen had ever received. She supposed there should have been some sort of award as she looked down beneath her shoe, which had mysteriously omitted a loud bang that made her jump about an inch in the air, to see a 'deflated' condom.

She looked up again at two blondes stomping over to her, coming from behind a small white brick building, and she backed away. It was a boy and a girl around TenTen's age, both strikingly beautiful and blue-eyed, although the boy's scruffy hair was disheveled as if he hadn't felt like brushing that morning. Both also had grouchy looks on their faces directed at poor TenTen, who, perplexed, simply stared at them.

"Um…I dunno know if I'm supposed to say 'sorry' or what," TenTen mumbled.

"Well _yeah_ you're supposed to say sorry!" the girl declared. "We were playing volleyball with that thing!"

So many questions. TenTen tried her best to resist the urge. "Uh…"

"So? What are you waiting for?" the boy demanded. "Are you gonna say sorry or…hey, are you new here?" The boy was suddenly eyeing TenTen's suitcase. She sighed.

"Yes," she muttered. She _was _new to Konoha, in a way. She had just gotten out of a taxi from the airport. So far the air was perfect, and the city was very comfortable and homey. Konoha was a cute little town. It had a plentiful abundance of trees and bushes and large green plants. Grass was everywhere, almost overrunning the amount of cement and sidewalk. It had a nice little beach in it too, along the shores of Oakland Lake, so the air sweeping away from the surface of the water was cool and moist, mixing refreshingly with the warm, summer weather.

TenTen was used to Kiri, where in the winter, it snowed many feet and you could barely walk outside without wanting to wrap yourself in your comforter again. Even in the summer, in the mornings it was so chilly TenTen could remember some days where she saw her breath. Here in Konoha around summertime, however, it was a pleasant change, and it was peaceful, at least until she stomped her foot down on that balloon-wanna-be.

"Aw man, sorry!" The girl suddenly ran over, snatching the destroyed condom up quickly almost as a sign of surrender. TenTen tried not to laugh. It was like an interpretation of a white flag. "We didn't know you were a newbie, we're not supposed to be mean to people who just moved in."

"And you're allowed to be mean to people who live here regularly?" TenTen gathered slowly.

"Well, if they step on our blown-up condoms, then yeah, I guess," the boy said thoughtfully. He grinned. "Well, newbie, to make it up to you, why don't you let us help you take your things to your house! Looks like you've got a lot there!"

"N-No, really, I'm fine," TenTen said quickly, trying not to get caught up in too much with these people. She didn't want to owe any favors.

"Nonsense, newbie, we must!" the girl cried. "Naruto, you take the heavy one, I'll take the smaller bags."

"Got it!" The boy, Naruto apparently, grabbed TenTen's suitcase from her weak fingers, and Ino pried her small carry-on bags from her arms and slung them dangerously over her shoulder.

"Well, where to, newbie? Where's your new place?" Naruto asked impatiently, trying to get used to the suitcase and shifting on his feet.

"We'll help you get settled in," the girl said.

TenTen was staring at them. An hour and fifteen minutes into Konoha and she had already been dragged into this kind of stuff. "Why are you…?"

"Come on, just point the way," the girl said with a welcoming smile that TenTen couldn't resist.

"Um, I think it's this way; Chestnut Avenue."

"Ah, we know where that is!" Naruto cried triumphantly. "It's right across from the beach, and down the block from Ichiraku's. That's convenient. Well, follow us, then!"

With Naruto heaving her suitcase and the girl humming a tune between her excess luggage, the two marched in the lead to the befuddled TenTen's new estate.

"So what's your grade, newbie?" the girl attempted conversation as they walked. "I can tell you're in High School. Me and Naruto are gonna be Juniors."

"I'll be a Senior," TenTen said, still a little bewildered.

"Really?! That's too bad. Well, we'll probably be able to see each other at least, the school's pretty small. We might even be in some of the same classes!"

"What?" TenTen blinked, then laughed a bit. "No, I'm not staying here 'till school starts!"

"Heh?" Naruto turned his head over his shoulder. "Whadya mean?"

"I'm just staying here for the summer," TenTen said quickly. "I'm only visiting my grandfather while he's in the hospital with cancer, I'm staying with my grandma. It's not _permanent_."

Both blondes stopped in their tracks. "…What?" the girl asked in a hushed voice. "Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Wow, I'm…I'm sorry 'bout your gramps…" Naruto said quietly.

TenTen stared as the girl nodded in agreement. They both sure looked sorry. She smiled. "No, it's okay, really. I love him, yeah. And I'll miss him when he's gone. But he lived a nice life, and I feel like it'll be best if I'm with him for his last days."

The two just stared at her. Suddenly their eyes seemed to get a little bigger. TenTen raised an eyebrow. "Um…What?" she asked uncertainly, expecting the unexpected, especially from this strange pair.

"You, darling, are going to be picked up at one o'clock sharp today. Right now it is ten thirty five, so don't be late!" The girl waved a hand dramatically in the air, almost dropping TenTen's bags and making her very uneasy.

"Wait, what? What are you picking me up for?" TenTen complained exasperatedly.

Naruto grinned, white teeth glinting. "We're takin' you out to lunch!"

.

"TenTen!"

"Hi grandma!" TenTen greeted with a smile, letting the little old woman come tottering up to her as TenTen dropped her things next to the old-fashioned rocking chair. She took TenTen's hands tightly in her own wrinkled ones and squinted up to get a good look at her.

"My god you've grown!"

TenTen laughed. "Well you haven't come to visit me in a year, grandma," she said, smiling down at her grandmother's petit figure. She had TenTen's and her mother's big brown eyes, and she probably used to have their brown hair, but it was grey, now. TenTen's own long brown locks were up in a high ponytail, and she was currently thankful for it; her grandmother's stuffy house was almost hotter than it was outside.

"Of course, of course, and you weren't allowed to visit me until now," her grandmother said wisely, letting TenTen's fingers go.

TenTen looked around the small living room. The carpet with about an inch of dust hidden in the beige cloth, the cream walls, the peeling wallpaper, the cracked ceiling, and the faded grey ornaments hanging on the walls among horrid paintings and old family photos... She took in a deep breath, inhaling the muggy scent. "Huh," she muttered under her breath, shading her eyes from the lamp light, hearing the birds chirping and twittering around outside the windows. "Certainly seems like the kinda place for my grandma."

She smiled when her gaze caught on an antique shelf above the fireplace. On it, pressed amongst handcrafted porcelain cats and a somewhat random clay sculpture of a polka-dot sock was a wooden picture frame, some iron settings of vines curved around it, with a photo of an elderly man with graying hair and long bags under his eyes set inside it. He was thin, but had the look of someone who was once very muscular, and he had a grin with one tooth missing and a long scar on his left cheek. He was surprisingly poised for what his age seemed to be, and he had an arm flung around the shoulders of another version of TenTen, her hair in two buns on top of her head and a laughing smile on her face.

"Lucky there's an excuse to come here now," TenTen said, her voice growing softer.

Her grandmother followed TenTen's eyes to the picture and smiled. "Ah, that's our favorite picture of you, we both decided. When we came to visit two years ago and your mother took that one out in the living room..." Her voice was creaky and gentle as she reminisced. She sighed. "Len was quite the adventurer, even when he started to grow old." She laughed hoarsely. "Why, even now in the hospital he's experimenting."

"How?" TenTen asked automatically. She was always eager to hear a story from her grandmother about her grandfather. Something in the old woman's voice and something about the old man's awkward situations made a smile flit across her face, chocolate eyes glittering.

Her grandmother chuckled. "Ah, you'll have to see for yourself when you visit him tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow? Why not today? Right now?" TenTen asked quickly, feeling excited. She hadn't seen her grandfather in a year, and she wanted so badly to get a sight of his toothy grin again.

"Ah, he has another full-body scan today," her grandmother said slowly. "So we'll have to wait until tomorrow."

TenTen sighed, feeling somewhat disappointed. Her grandmother picked at her chin, then clapped her leathery hands together. "Well, let's get your things up to your room then! I'm sure there's a lot to be unpacked, so we might as well get started, hmm?"

TenTen nodded, brightening up again. Of course her grandmother would help her unpack. The woman was weak, but her heart was strong.

.

She debated even showing up.

TenTen sat in her new temporary room, the guest bedroom upstairs. It too was almost coated in dust, but a little vacuuming and scrubbing soon cleared things up. Now her clothes were in the wardrobe and her sheets were on her bed, and she held onto a tiny, square, thin piece of paper in her hands. It was the photograph she'd seen downstairs of her and her grandfather. Her grandmother said that TenTen should have it.

TenTen knew her grandfather was going to die soon; his weak body had just gone through too much. And she also knew she loved her grandfather almost as much as she loved her real father. She'd connected with both he and her grandmother as soon as they'd picked her up at the age of three, and they'd visited together every year, just to see her.

But last year her grandfather had been diagnosed with an extreme case of cancer, and so the cycle was broken. Her grandmother couldn't afford to travel anymore, and her grandfather was forced to live in the hospital. Recently, he'd been moved to hospice, where he now lay being coaxed gently into death.

TenTen's hands tightened around the crumpled photo. She'd keep it in her back pocket at all times, she decided, so it would be like her grandfather was always with her. She slipped it now into her jeans. And just so she could keep her mind off the subject and try to stay optimistic like the rest of her family, she thought about the two blondes she'd met earlier.

'_I wonder if I should even try_,' she thought. _'I mean, take me out to lunch? Is that really something people do when they first meet someone?_'

Suddenly her sharp eyes noticed something out her window. She had a good view of the entire street in front of her, even the beach. When the two had said she was across from the beach it wasn't a lie. She was literally across the street from the beach. It was a tiny beach, sure, but still an opening to the gigantic Oakland Lake, and it was gorgeous. She could see all the way into the distance, where the blue waves crashed into the sky at the horizon, and the sand dunes stretched out, pale and round. There were a couple people playing in the sand now.

And then she saw, walking down her front street, the tops of two shiny blonde heads. She bit her lip. "What the hell, I guess…" she said slowly under her breath, standing. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "I just hope they don't freak me out too much…" she mumbled as she exited her room, taking a sharp left down the stairs. "Grandma?" she called.

"What is it?" Her grandmother emerged from the kitchen, drying her hands.

"Um, is it okay if I go out to look around the town? I want to get used to the place. I'll probably eat lunch out too, if that's alright with you."

"Oh that's fine. Just be home before dark."

"Promise," she said with a smile. "See you later."

"Have fun."

TenTen slipped out the front door quickly, closing it with a snap behind her, then turned to face the two standing predictably on her front porch.

"Cool, you showed up right on time!" Naruto said with an impressed sneer.

TenTen tried not to roll her eyes. "Yeah, let's get this over with."

"You don't have to be rude," the girl said with patronizing disapproval. "Come on, we'll walk to Ichiraku's."

"Ichiraku's?" TenTen inquired as they started walking to the left down the sidewalk.

"Yeah, it's a cheap restaurant but it's really good," Naruto said conversationally. He glanced over his shoulder at the small grey house. "Nice place."

TenTen couldn't help but laugh. The girl frowned. "No, really. It's old fashioned, but it's cute."

"Thanks, I guess."

Naruto grinned. "So newbie-"

"Hold on a sec, Naruto." The girl tilted her head to the side. "We can't keep calling her newbie. What's your name, newbie?"

'_She failed to realize the irony of those two sentences,_' TenTen thought glumly. She was actually getting used to the two, however, so she told them.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka, this is Naruto Uzumaki," the girl, Ino, replied happily, gesturing to her friend. She laughed a bit. It was a light, tinkling sound that made a smile come to TenTen's lips. "It's nice to meet - Oh, hey look, it's Neji!" Ino said suddenly.

TenTen blinked and looked over where Ino was pointing.

A boy had heard his name and looked around, then spotted them and walked over from across the street where a small shop called Ayame's sat next to the beach. He had long brown hair that looked as smooth and light as a cup of coffee pulled into a high ponytail, and lavender eyes. His face was oval and long, and he had a sort of confidence about him as he strode over to the three.

He stopped in front of them and greeted Ino and Naruto with a simple wave, all of them halting.

Ino beamed. "Hi Neji! Hey, this is the newbie. You know, the one we were telling you and the others about." Joy. They were talking about her. "Her name's TenTen, we're taking her out to lunch."

TenTen noticed Neji looking her over. She felt a little uneasy. It felt like he was staring right through her, or he was taking mental notes about every detail of her physical being. But she smiled at him as politely as she could.

"Hi."

He then said his first three words to her:

"Try the cheesecake."

TenTen blinked. She waited, wanting to figure out if he'd told a joke. When he simply stared at her, dead serious, she cleared her throat awkwardly.

"…Sorry?"

"Ino and Naruto are taking you out to lunch, right?" Neji shrugged. "I suggest the cheesecake. Konoha's famous for it."

This place was full of weirdoes.

.

And yet she took his word for it.

When they'd left Neji, Ino and Naruto had insisted he was right, and they'd dragged her further down the sidewalk to a small crimson place, Ichiraku's written in swooping letters on an iron setting above the door. Inside, they'd pointed above the wooden counter lit by dim golden lights to the menu. There, in the largest of black and gold letters, was the label of _Cheesecake_, and underneath she saw twelve different flavors.

TenTen decided simply to play along, and chose the first selection randomly, not bothering to look and see what it actually was, and added an iced tea to go with it. Now she sat at a table against the window across from a busily chattering Naruto and Ino, staring out the smudged glass with the buzzer on the table in front of her, waiting to be activated so she could get her meal. She watched the beach. A stretch of sand, children running back and forth…she could see Neji again, and he was with two other people. But that was in the distance, and she could barely see their faces…

"Ope, it's buzzin'."

TenTen turned around at Naruto's voice and looked down to the little black circular device that vibrated on the table and hummed indignantly. She reached to get it, but a manicured hand snatched it up before TenTen's fingers could even brush the plastic. "_I'll_ get it! _We're_ paying, after all!" Ino said with a stern frown, before she wafted away like a ballerina, long ponytail bouncing behind her.

TenTen stared after Ino. "Is she always so…?"

"Yes, yes she is," Naruto said bluntly.

The two sat in silence, Naruto examining his fingernails and sitting slumped and comfortable in his seat. TenTen looked around, unlike Naruto sitting up straight and stiff, hands in her lap.

Naruto looked over at her, and grinned. "No need to be so uncomfortable, TenTen!" TenTen looked at him and her heart melted; his smile was like sunshine.

"Sorry, but it's a little…" She fought to find the right words, and started again. "It's just, being somewhere I don't live…"

"It's okay, TenTen," Naruto said, tugging carelessly on a strand of his blonde hair. "Just loosen up. You'll love it here, soon enough. I promise, everyone that enters this place will get a personal greeting from me and Ino, and then they'll be as happy as a pancake!'

TenTen tried to accept the metaphor. "Is this really that small of a town?" she questioned.

Naruto nodded. "Yup. Everyone knows everyone, and if they don't, they're not anyone that matters!"

Ino came back before TenTen could challenge the sense of that theory, with a small tray. On it sat a steaming slice of cheesecake on a paper plate, a plastic set of silverware wrapped in a red napkin, and a tiny foam cup of iced tea. TenTen took it from Ino carefully. "Thanks," she said awkwardly as Ino plopped down in her seat. She didn't really feel right having them staring at her as she ate, but it would do.

She tried the cheesecake first. The knife sank easily through the soft layers. It got a little harder to cut through the thick, packed bottom layer but not too challenging, and then her fork scooped up the end piece, just a little rounded triangle, onto the flat edge of it. She lifted the fork carefully into her mouth and slid it out again.

TenTen waited thoughtfully as she consumed it, eyes straying distractedly so she could concentrate. Her gaze wandered around until it landed on Neji again. He was alone now, his hands stuffed in his pockets, staring out aimlessly at the waves along the beach.

There was a nutty flavor around the cheesecake, so she assumed it was almond. It had a bit of cinnamon twisted in there too. She turned back to the front again, and noticed as Ino and Naruto gradually sat up straight and leaned forward against the table, watching her eagerly.

"It's good…" she said finally with a surprised smile.

"Isn't it?!" Ino cried excitedly.

TenTen watched her high-five Naruto, the two soon switching back to gazing at her with their big blue eyes and large shiny grins.

"So what, you're gonna sit there and watch me chew?"

"Um, that sounds about right."

"Yeah, that's…that's the plan."

.

"So are you guys a couple?" TenTen asked, elbows on the table.

She'd gotten more comfortable with the two after a while, and now, with her cheesecake that she'd found delicious (even though it wasn't the _best _thing she'd ever tasted) finished, they were just waiting on her iced tea, which she was taking her time with between conversation among her two new acquaintances.

"Heavens no!" Ino cried as Naruto shook his head rapidly, both looking horrified by the mere idea of going out. "We're just close friends," Ino assured her, waving her hand.

"Yeah, and besides, we couldn't go out anyway!" Naruto said. "We would never be attracted to each other in the first place!"

TenTen stared at them expectantly, confused. So Naruto explained:

"We're both _gay_."

TenTen's mouth opened. "_Oh_!" she said, feeling somewhat stupid. She wasn't insulted, however. She had plenty of gay friends. "Sorry, I had no idea."

"It's okay," Ino said, neither of them looking abashed in the slightest. "For some reason no one seems to expect it! Even though I have a beautiful girlfriend back at home!"

"…Back at home…?" TenTen asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah." Ino smiled. "I was born in a different town, I moved here when I was young. But I still visit home every Christmas and visit my darling Sakura!"

"She's obsessed!" Naruto hissed behind a hand, pointing to Ino as discreetly as possible. "Even though it's a long term relationship! It'll never work out!" Ino frowned and whacked him sharply over the head.

TenTen laughed nervously and decided to change the subject. She turned to Naruto. "So, you don't have a boyfriend yet?"

"Him? Who on _earth_ would want to go out with him?" Ino demanded, seeming disgusted.

Naruto glared at her, rubbing his head. "Shut up!" He turned to TenTen. "No, I don't have a boyfriend yet," he said simply, lips thinned almost professionally as he tried to keep calm. Ino's lip twitched in the slightest, though, and, catching it out of the corner of one eye, Naruto slapped her arm rudely, causing her to shriek and half the restaurant to turn and stare.

The three of them cowered immediately, but TenTen felt something bubbling in her stomach. It was a happiness she rarely felt, and she couldn't help but let it out. She began to laugh. Naruto and Ino looked up at her, and soon enough, they had joined in.

Ino grinned once they calmed down. "You know, you're not that bad, TenTen, you're something I believe the others would enjoy. I mean, already it seems Neji's taken a liking to you."

"True, true!" Naruto said excitedly as TenTen pondered what they could mean by that. All he'd said was, _"Try the cheesecake." _and left. "Hey, TenTen, are you free tomorrow?"

"What, so you can take me out to lunch again?" TenTen asked uncertainly.

"Yup, and this time it'll be earlier. Usually we go out to lunch with everyone around twelve, which explains why we're not eating now," Ino explained. "Tomorrow we'll show you to everyone at _The Spot_."

"The _what_?"

"The _Spot_!" Naruto said cheerfully. "It's just the unused parking lot behind Ayame's. It's right in front of the beach, and it's shaded by the building, so it's perfect. Also, if we get hot, we can go buy ice cream! All of us meet there every day."

"What's Ayame's and who's 'all of us'?" TenTen asked, getting more and more confused by the second but not exactly fearing asking questions anymore.

"Ayame's is an ice cream and slurpee shop, we passed it on our way here."

"Oh yeah," TenTen recollected. "Then who's 'all of us'?"

"Just me, Naruto, Neji, and all our friends," Ino said simply. "You'll see tomorrow. You _are_ coming, right?"

TenTen stared at the two, Ino's eyes demanding, Naruto's hopeful.

She had to go see her grandfather tomorrow. She'd go in the morning, from nine to eleven. That would be good enough. She'd have to leave around that time for lunch anyways, even if she _wasn't_ planning on doing this…

"…Yeah."

Ino and Naruto smiled. "Okay! So we'll pick you up tomorrow at twelve!"

"Perfect."

.

"Ah, you're back."

TenTen smiled at her grandmother as she closed the door behind her. "Hi."

"How was it? Do you like Konoha so far?"

"Yeah, it's really cool," she said, and she had to admit to herself that she was telling the truth. It _was_ cool here. A pretty little town. With nice people in it, she had to remind herself, the memory of laughing with Ino and Naruto at the table of Ichiraku's flashing through her mind.

"I'm glad you like it," her grandmother said sweetly. "Well, I guess the move's probably made you tired, so you can head to your room if you want. There's some hot chocolate up there already for you."

TenTen beamed. "Thanks!" Her grandmother's hot chocolate was the best TenTen had ever tasted. She ran upstairs, mouth almost watering at the mere thought of the stuff, walked into her room and closed the door behind her. Sitting on her bed and grinning at the steamy mug on the bedside table, she picked it up and sipped it, closing her eyes.

But the moment was over when she twitched violently. Her cell phone was vibrating in her pocket. She sighed and set the hot chocolate down, feeling the thick cocoa rolling down her tongue into her throat and warming her neck, and she pulled out her cell phone and flicked it open. "Hello?"

"TenTen! Hi!"

TenTen smiled in spite of herself. "Lee, hey!"

"How's Konoha?"

"It's great," TenTen said honestly. "How's everything back home? How's Matsuri?" Lee and Matsuri; TenTen's best friends from back home. They were both slightly challenged, in the way that they were louder than necessary half the time, and had a strange taste in clothes of the colors green and orange. So what was not to adore?

"Matsuri's…actually right here. You're on speaker," Lee said.

"Really?" TenTen asked. "Why can't I hear her?"

"Well…"

"Is she making out with one of your pillows?"

"No. We're just…not talking to each other…" Lee mumbled.

"Ah. Matsuri, you're not gonna say hi to me…?" TenTen asked a little louder.

"…Hi…" TenTen laughed at Matsuri's reluctant answer.

"It's nice to hear from you guys. I'm gonna miss you."

"Yeah, same here." Matsuri said from the phone. "It's gonna be quiet without you here laughing at everything we say." TenTen had a knack for laughing at the stupidest things. For some reason, she found everything funny.

"You guys need to call me more often," TenTen retorted. "Without me there, it'll be hard to break up your little arguments."

"Ah, you know we love each other," Matsuri said nonchalantly. Lee laughed from the phone, and TenTen grinned.

"Yeah, I know." She sighed and plopped onto her back on her new bed, bouncing a bit. She stared at the pale white ceiling, at the cracks decorating it like thread-thin snakes. "So how cold is it there?"

"Ah, the usual. Five degrees below."

TenTen grinned at the sarcasm. "Of course. I'm gonna miss having a cool summer. This place isn't dreary or anything, but it's almost boiling here." She stared at a cobweb waving sadly in a corner of her ceiling. "And I'm tired. I don't really know what else to say," she murmured into the phone with an air of finality.

"Moving is always tiring," Lee consolidated. "Want us to leave you alone?"

"Nah, I can't make y…you…" She interrupted herself on accident with a yawn.

"Yeah, we'll hang up, TenTen," Matsuri said with a laugh. "Nighty night!"

"Shut up," TenTen muttered, annoyed at the girl's sarcasm. "Bye, talk to you guys tomorrow."

"Bye, TenTen."

TenTen snapped her phone shut and closed her eyes, relaxing. She licked her dry lips. She could still feel the flavor of that cheesecake. She smiled. That Neji guy was right, it seemed.

"I'll have to try another one tomorrow," she said to herself in thoughtful sleepiness.

It was inevitable from that moment on. It would take twelve days and twelve flavors of cheesecake to advance herself into falling in love with some strange things, which would alter her life in some strange ways. "But who ever said strange isn't good?" her grandfather once said. "Sometimes, it's the best you can get."

This was all she was going to get. So she would make the best of it.

And so, a tale full of taste.

_White chocolate cheesecake with mounds of toasted coconut enrobed in pure dark chocolate._

Author's Note: I've decided to spam my account because I'm sick of the thing just sitting and rotting in the dust of my word documents. I promise I'll be updating all twelve chapters as quickly as my carpal tunnel will allow! Finally, I would like everyone to forgive me, for I purposely mean the entire story to be very cheesy and cute. Please go along with it, just for the sake of the tale.

What to Expect: Banana Cream. Introductions. Reasonable Doubt.


	2. Banana Cream

Of All Things

Banana Cream:

TenTen was beginning to doubt a lot of things, but most of all, she doubted whether she'd really thought this trip to Konoha through before she'd actually gone along with it. At the moment, TenTen regretted coming to the hospital as soon as she started to get—although it was predictable—dizzy.

The walls were a pure, unblemished white, burning her eyes. Everything around her seemed to cave in, then extend past her vision. The corners were shadowed, but then they weren't, but then they _were _again. The ceilings, she didn't even want to look at them. They passed row after row of white curtains, and the windows were locked, so it looked like a sort of soft, sanitized dungeon from someone's opposite dreams, making TenTen feel trapped and enclosed and restless.

Her head spun, and she kept squeezing her eyes shut briefly and opening them again wide. Her grandmother noticed while walking next to her, smiled piteously. "I'm sorry, TenTen, I know you hate hospitals."

"It's alright, I'm managing," was all she could say, and although she _was_ managing, she was not managing very well. But she would do anything to see her grandfather again, to see that toothy grin.

It was about nine in the morning, and they were following the rows of chipped doors, counting down to get to room number 122, which was the room her grandfather was currently residing in. When they finally got to it, they faced a nice thick wooden door with white paint. Of _course_ it would be white. It didn't change when the door was actually opened.

White, white, white.

But she didn't care, and she didn't faint like she had been about to a few seconds ago, because she saw in one of the two beds, her grandfather.

He didn't look the same, she noticed as she and her grandmother walked over to him. There was an IV in his arm, and instead of the usual leather jacket and stomach-high dress pants, he was in a baggy hospital gown. He was, of course, completely bald, and skinnier than when she'd last seen him. Leukemia had not been merciful to the old man. But he smiled when he saw her anyways, and she couldn't help but laugh; despite all of this, he still seemed exactly the same.

"TenTen! Come help me with something, would you?"

"It's nice to see you, gramps," she said, returning his smile as she walked over, closing the door behind them and walking over as well.

"Yes, whatever happened to a simple 'Hello' after seeing your granddaughter for the first time in a year, hmm?" TenTen's grandmother asked of him.

He waved a bony hand in the air. "Ah, settle down, we all know we're going to say hello. Why not save our breath and get to the good part?" he said with self-reason.

TenTen laughed happily. She'd desperately missed his theories. "What do you need help with?"

"Here, take this." He held out, connected to the bed by a thick cord, a little remote control. "Press the third button down."

TenTen stared at it. The first black button was a picture of a stick figure on a bed lying straight out on its back. The second was tilted so its head was a little closer to its feet. And the third was bent so far its head was about to touch its toes.

"Um…are you sure…?" she asked uncertainly.

"Of course I'm sure! Don't you question your grandpa, go ahead and press it!"

TenTen glanced at her grandmother, who just shook her head exasperatedly and swished her hands through the air, telling her to just do it. TenTen turned back to her grandfather and, regretting it before it was done, pressed the button.

With a whooping laugh, he let the bed snap up so he was bent, and he reached out. "Look at this, TenTen, I can touch my toes!"

She gasped and hurried to clumsily press the first button quickly as her grandmother slid a hand over her eyes in exasperation. "Are you okay?!" she cried as he lay down, chuckling up to the ceiling.

He put a halt to his laughing and sent her a stern look. "Now why wouldn't I be?"

"U-Um…grandpa, you just…"

"Why did you put it back? Press the button again!"

"You're going to hurt yourself!"

"I don't think that's possible." TenTen blinked and turned to look across the room at the other bed. The curtain covering it swished open, revealing an even _older_ man. His grey hair stood like a triangle on his head, frizzy and tangled, and he wore the same old hospital gown. He pushed the curtain back farther from his bed, and he smiled amidst wrinkles and warts. "Your old grandpa's a sure fighter."

"Ah, Sarutobi," TenTen's grandfather grinned. "I see you're awake at last. Here, you've already met my wife, but I doubt you've met my granddaughter. This is TenTen. TenTen, this is Hiruzen Sarutobi, my roommate in this wonderful facility."

TenTen smiled at him, nodding and putting the remote down. He looked nice enough. "Nice to meet y—"

"—I've got AIDS."

TenTen froze mid-sentence, her mouth still open. She stared at the grinning man across the room in complete silence, before a strangled noise from her throat broke it.

"Ah, she's probably wondering how you got it, Sarutobi."

"Well blood transfusion probably explains it well enough," Sarutobi said with a shrug. He smiled toothily. "It's nice to meet you as well, TenTen. Len, you have a lovely granddaughter."

"I do indeed."

TenTen still stood silent, unsure whether or not she should just leave the room. She had never been so uncomfortable in her life. Her grandmother, probably sensing that, walked over and placed a hand on her back with pity. "Don't worry, he greeted me the same way. Apparently he just likes to let people know ahead of time, because after a while they begin to ask him why he's in here."

"Oh…That's normal …" TenTen barely choked out.

Her grandmother laughed grimly. Sarutobi smiled. "So TenTen, what brings you to Konoha? Visiting your grandpa?"

"…Um, yes, my parents finally let me leave Kiri," she said, turning to the old man and calming herself.

"How is it so far?"

TenTen paused, trying to think of a word to describe it. "Uh…" Unusual and unfamiliar flashed through her head, but she chose the most honest and polite of them all.

"Unpredictable."

The other three in the room all broke out into a fit of laughter, and TenTen laughed a bit herself. Because unpredictable was the perfect way to describe it.

.

"Darling, the outfit is slurpee-licious."

TenTen raised an eyebrow at Ino as she draped herself along the porch, Naruto peering over her shoulder excitedly through the door. The trip to the hospital had taken an hour, so she'd gotten back at ten thirty. Ino and Naruto had arrived almost exactly at twelve, just like they'd said. "Is that…good?" she asked as she climbed down the steps of the porch and followed after the two blondes who immediately scurried ahead of her.

"Um, yeah," Naruto said over his shoulder, seeming surprised that TenTen didn't understand. He then snapped into realization. "Oh! It must not be slang over in Kiri."

"No, not really."

"Well, it means your outfit is '_gorgeous'_," Ino said simply. "And it is!"

"Thanks…But this is what I wear all the time," she said, looking down at her clothes, just a red and white striped tank and a jean miniskirt. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, falling down her neck comfortably.

"Then you have wonderful sense in fashion."

TenTen felt complimented. Ino seemed to know a lot about fashion, after all. She herself wore a cute, white, flowery summer dress. Naruto had on a long sleeved white shirt with a ruffled collar. "You guys do too…" she said slowly, returning the favor.

"Thank you!" Ino pulled herself next to Naruto happily, nearly tripping him. "We match, isn't it cute?"

"You dress that way on purpose?"

"Yup!" Naruto plucked his shirt proudly. "We always match. We text each other to wake each other up, then decide what color to wear."

"What if you don't have the same color?"

"We always do!" Naruto laughed. "We go shopping together!"

TenTen began to doubt the theory of a teenager's individuality.

She looked over at the beach they were across the street from. The water was clear, crystal blue, and the waves were huge, rising surprisingly and tumbling to a stop on the sand of the beach violently, which stretched behind small buildings, all lit up brilliantly with the sun. There were a few small restaurants, all family-run it seemed because she couldn't recognize the chain restaurants from back home. They looked cozy, with umbrellas over their skinny iron tables out front which were almost all filled.

"Here's Ayame's! We're almost there, TenTen!" Naruto announced as he grabbed her arm and swiftly yanked her across the street in front of three cars, which slowly yielded for them. Ino and Naruto didn't smile or wave; in fact they made no effort to gesticulate I thanks. So TenTen figured, as she was pulled over the curb roughly, that it was just normal to stop for pedestrians. Well, not _normal_. Just normal for Konoha…

They got to the sidewalk in front of Ayame's, which was a tiny white brick building along the side of the beach, and Ino led the way to the small parking lot out back, Naruto yanking on TenTen's arm the whole way.

He finally threw her to a stop in the shade of the parking lot, and she stumbled to a halt, staring, embarrassed, at a group of six kids, all about her age, staring at her. She straightened up and stared right back. They were all stationed around a bright red convertible. She recognized Neji from the day before, who was looking at her with a blank expression.

"Okay, let's get started!" They all turned to Ino, who clapped her hands together happily and placed a hand on TenTen's shoulder. Naruto grinned and put a hand to her other one. "This, everyone, is the newbie."

"Oh, that's why you look so weird!" one of them chimed.

Ino frowned at him and pointed. "I'll introduce each one of them. That rude one there is Kiba." The boy was sitting on the ground carelessly, leaning against the side of the car with pair of headphones around his neck. His hair was a scruffy and brown, like burnt cinnamon, and he wore a fluffy violet vest on over it. He gave TenTen a wave and smile that showed his white teeth.

An arm was around Kiba's shoulder, and Ino's manicured finger moved to him. "That's Kankerou, Kiba's boyfriend." This one was also a brunette, but his hair was a little more brown, and his skin more pale. He was also much larger, and very muscular. "Nice to meet ya, newbie," Kankerou said with a matching grin. "As you can see, we're gay, so don't be fooled by our good looks."

"Um…?"

"Don't be so mean!" Naruto snapped. "They're just kidding," he said, turning back to her. "And you can see Sai in the front seat of his car there." He pointed to a black haired, pale young man in a jean jacket, leaning over the side of the convertible to give her a polite smile. "It's wonderful to meet you."

Well, that was refreshing. Some politeness. She smiled. "Um, let me guess, you're gay too." He blinked, then laughed aloud. "No!" She tried not to groan aloud. Great, she just messed up big time. But they were all laughing like it was the best thing they'd heard in a while, even Sai. "The only ones of us that are gay are me, Naruto, Kankerou, Kiba, and Sasuke there!" Ino cried in mirth, and she nudged TenTen in the direction of another young man that sat on the hood of the car and gave her a scowl.

"I'm not gay. Get it right," he said grouchily.

"Stop being a baby," Naruto jeered. "Oh, and you've already met Neji, TenTen." He nodded to Neji, who stood with his back against the car next to Sai and gave TenTen a polite smile. She tried to return it, but it felt like she had lockjaw.

"And _that_ is Gaara!"TenTen turned in the direction Ino gestured widely. Gaara sat on the curb near the front of the car and looked up when his name was called. He did nothing, said nothing, only looked at her, and TenTen decided that plain acknowledgment from him was good enough. His hair was red and soft looking, his eyes dark and deep. When he was done analyzing her, he looked back down at his knees, hands placed on them delicately.

"And this is TenTen!" Naruto said, slapping her on the back painfully. "She laughs at everything!"

She glowered, wincing as she rubbed her back and straightened up again. " I do not!"

"Oh, oh, there's a good way to test this!" Kiba spoke up. He gazed up into TenTen's eyes, face suddenly blank of all emotion, and said very seriously, "Elbow."

She blinked, and then she felt it; the bubbling urge to laugh. Her lips twitched upwards involuntarily, but she crossed her arms as casually as she could across her chest and snapped her mouth shut. "That's not funny," she managed to say.

Kankerou, catching on, grinned. "El…" TenTen's eyes widened. "…bow!"

She burst out laughing, and Kiba and Kankerou couldn't help but join her, slapping hands. TenTen could tell these two would not let her live this down.

"So where's Karin?" Ino asked loudly over the noise as Naruto helped TenTen get to her feet again, holding onto her stomach and giggling as if she'd had a glass of beer. She tried to avoid Neji's gaze; he had an amused smile on his face.

TenTen sighed in relief, getting over the episode, and turned to Ino. "Who?" she asked, starting to feel a little more comfortable.

"Karin. Karin's Karin." Naruto said simply as Ino nodded.

"She's over there," Neji said, shoving a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of Oakland Lake. TenTen looked where he pointed. A girl stood amidst the waves, her long, wet, cherry-red hair blowing behind her. She was in a black bikini, from what TenTen could see, and seemed to be collecting shells.

"She likes collecting shells," Neji said. "She makes them into jewelry and picture frames which she can sell to tourists."

TenTen was impressed. That is, until the girl let out a shriek that ran from beach and echoed off the walls of Ayame's, and she toppled over into the waves, disappearing from sight. This earned a loud, "Oh!" from a few of them, as if they were at a hockey game, and TenTen's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Is she okay?!" she cried.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Kankerou said, shaking his head exasperatedly. "She'll walk it off."

"Walk it…huh? …" TenTen watched as the girl slowly emerged from the waves, stumbled clumsily to her feet, and began to drag her way to shore.

"TenTen, don't worry about it," Ino said reassuringly, sensing TenTen's concern. "She falls all the time! She practically lives in the water, so if there's any place she's gonna get hurt, it's on land."

"She's like a mermaid!" Naruto sang.

TenTen began to doubt the theory of evolution.

The group of them speculated Karin as she trudged herself along the sand. The closer she got, the louder her cursing could be heard, and TenTen raised an eyebrow. Did she not know she was in public?

She walked over, barefoot and leaving wet prints behind her on the cement, mixed with the sand that stuck to her legs and feet. Her hair was wet and twisted around her, and she dripped over to them, shivering from cold, and first stared at TenTen.

"Karin, this is newbie, otherwise known as TenTen," Ino said business-like, gesturing to TenTen who scowled.

Naruto took it from there. "TenTen, this is Karin, otherwise known as Karin."

"Idiot," Karin and Sasuke both muttered at the same time. Karin turned to TenTen and tilted her head to the side. "You're the newbie, eh?" She smiled. "Your outfit's slurpee-licious."

"Um…Thank you…"

"You're very welcome." Karin sighed. "Sorry, that wasn't the best first impression, was it?" Well. _Karin _seemed semi-normal. At least this one could recognize her own peculiarity and possessed the self discipline to apologize for it.

Karin opened the trunk of the car, which was already popped, and removed some sweats, which she slipped on over her bikini, teeth chattering. She looked over her shoulder as she did this. "So how do you like Konoha so far?"

TenTen sighed. She kept getting asked this question, and each time it got harder and harder to answer politely. "It's, um…" She paused. "Unpredictable."

And yet again, everyone around her started to laugh. She restrained from laughing along until she could contain herself no longer.

.

"I don't know how you expect me to enjoy it if you picked it out for me," TenTen said.

They sat in Ichiraku's, all ten of them, sharing a booth. TenTen sat next to the window, Ino and Naruto on her other side. Neji was across from her, gazing out the glass and contributing nothing to the conversation, which was carried on mostly by Ino and Naruto. Kankerou and Kiba were in their own little world as well, but that was because they were sitting side by side, poking each other and giving each other little hugs and squeezes.

TenTen began to doubt the theory of a teenager's self-esteem.

They were already, to TenTen at least, completely predictable. She had acquired after only about an hour or less the information that apparently:

Kiba had every album you could think of, kept in the trunk of Sai's car.

Sai was obsessed with cars, which proved soon enough that no, he was_ not_ gay. He was more or less obsessed with _his_ car.

Kankerou, on the other hand, was obsessed with his _Kiba_, and with his own muscles.

Gaara said very little, but sometimes, he'd add in little phrases that seemingly had nothing to do with what they were talking about, but soon enough, if TenTen thought about it, turned out to be some sort of wise advice.

Sasuke just had an awful temper.

And Neji, well, he was just polite. A little _too_ polite. He held doors open for everyone and picked up things they dropped, removed pieces of lint or hair from their clothing, and did so without getting thanked, as if this was an everyday thing.

And that was the same for everything else! Everything strange that went on in this place was just an everyday thing. Everything was so accepted, it drove her crazy. But regarding her new acquaintances, TenTen had to admit that this was the strangest group of people she had ever met. And now, these strange people had bought her a cheesecake.

The buzzer started to vibrate, and Neji immediately got up, his usual helpful self, and went to go get the cheesecake. "What if I don't like the flavor of what you got me?" TenTen tried again after being ignored the first time, watching Neji distractedly.

Ino turned to her with a scornful pout. "Don't you talk like that, TenTen! You'll _love_ it! They're slurpee-tastic!" What was it with everything and 'slurpee' here?

"Here you go." TenTen looked up as Neji squirmed into his seat again and gently set down the plate of cheesecake in front of her. He also handed a brownie to Ino and Naruto, a bit of cranberry-bread to Kiba and Kankerou, and took an iced tea for himself.

Immediately as she lifted the fork the entire table stopped what they'd been doing and turned to stare at her like a bunch of cats. She paused. "This is even worse than yesterday," she muttered, and they all became a little less intense. She sunk the fork into the cake and lifted a small piece into her mouth.

Just like yesterday, she found herself pleasantly surprised. The taste of it was delicious, consisting of a fruity burst swirling around her mouth and a puff of whipped cream sitting on her tongue like a cloud. When she swallowed, she found herself wanting more, but first she asked, "What flavor is this?"

"Banana cream!" Naruto said happily.

"You like it?" Ino asked eagerly.

TenTen looked around at their faces. Some were grinning, some were completely serious, some weren't interested, and Neji's was a little amused.

She began to doubt the theory of a teenager's self-consciousness, because she was feeling right at home already.

"Love it."

_Fresh banana cheesecake with whipped cream topping._

Author's Note: Yes, I fully understand that the majority of the characters are majorly _out_ of character. I don't know how to respond to that except deal with it. They're all too fun to change. But don't worry, they'll all play a bigger role than they're playing right now, especially Neji.

What to Expect: Blueberry. Sasuke. Beauty.


	3. Blueberry

Of All Things

Blueberry:

She had to admit it; TenTen had enjoyed the compliments Ino and Naruto gave her on her outfit. Despite the 'slurpee-licious' part, she was quite entertained by their way of saying they liked the way she looked.

The bad thing about it was the attention she gave herself the morning after. She didn't _enjoy_ trying to be pretty, not in the least. She didn't think anyone did. But since her new group of idiosyncratic friends obviously had high expectations, she felt she needed to exceed—or at least succeed—them.

Unfortunately, beauty took pain and effort to obtain. And _time_. TenTen was late, and she was going to have to walk to the hospital to visit her grandfather today, because her grandmother had left without her.

She was lucky it was a small town, she figured as she hurried out the front door, pulling her hair into a high ponytail, having been well-combed about five times. Just _un_lucky that this small town was filled with people willing to compliment an impressionable girl on her appearance.

She looked up at the sky, sunny and glaring, and frowned as she rolled the sleeves of her sweater up. It was warm for this early in the morning. She still couldn't get used to it. But as she walked along at a fast pace down Chestnut Avenue over to Crooks Road, she had to admire the attractive charm of the place. The little family-run shops, with their iron tables sitting merrily under fancy umbrellas, with couples and cliques chatting and laughing with each other, not a care in the world. The sky was a perfect cerulean, puffs of cottony clouds studded here and there amidst the sunrays. The waves rolling in on the empty beach, which suddenly looked gloomy without the children running around all over it, was grey with the morning, nipping the wet sand.

TenTen tucked a strand of hair behind her ear self-consciously as she turned a corner, observing a tiny white fence bordering a green bush, flowering in all its cheer. TenTen felt it was very out of place, but she tried to stay unbiased. Tried to remember what her grandfather always reminded her: "Don't judge a book by its cover." She had to give this place a chance.

"Hey, can you help me out?"

TenTen nearly tripped over her own feet, seeing suddenly the person in front of her. She almost fell over again two seconds later when she realized that this was not a joke. A full grown man was bending over in front of her, showing her a mighty view of the rear end of his jeans. He arched his head in a painful fashion over his shoulder and said, "We're playing a game of 'Soulja Boy' Chicken, and we need another person."

This was beyond her vocabulary. TenTen didn't know how she did it, but she managed to turn her head slightly to the left, where on the front lawn of a tiny nearby house, she could see two other men balanced, one on the other's shoulders, near the edge of an inflatable pool filled to the brim with water. They were dancing to the best of their ability to the beat of a boom box shining in the sunlight on the porch.

TenTen somewhat handled turning back to the man in front of her, and after about fifteen seconds of utter silence, she promptly ran away.

She had a thing or two to say to her grandfather. TenTen had read this book. And it was the weirdest damn book she had ever opened. She had given this place a chance. And it wasn't any different than she had expected.

Behind her, the sound of the two dancing men toppling into the pool with a splash to the whooping laugh of the other echoed around Crooks Road, as TenTen reminded herself to breathe.

.

When she finally opened the white door to the white room in the white hospital, her grandfather was sitting up in his white bed covered by the white sheets, and welcomed her with a smile, white teeth glinting.

TenTen's stomach turned.

She closed the door, and closed her eyes as well for a brief second. Her chest rose, and fell again in a great sigh. She was overheated, tired, frustrated, and her feet hurt, but at least it was nice to see her grandfather again.

"TenTen, come have some of this coffee that the nice nurse brought up," her grandmother said from the chair next to his bed.

TenTen gratefully walked over to the cart in precipitous attention while saying a short hello to her grandfather, who returned it adroitly. "Ah, but isn't she a little too young to be drinking something as brawny?" She turned as she was pouring the thick liquid into a scanty plastic cup to Sarutobi sitting up weakly in bed. He nodded to her. "She doesn't seem to have enough meat on her bones to be able to handle so much caffeine."

"Nonsense, Sarutobi, she's already driving a car," her grandfather said with a dismissing wave of his hand.

"No I'm not," she corrected him, ripping the top off of a small paper packet of sugar. "I don't even have my permit yet."

"Ah, so you don't." Her grandfather watched her in silence for a while before he said as if it was insignificant, "You should work on that."

She nodded shortly, but tried to concentrate on opening a second packet of sugar, knowing she'd need it. But the lousy thing was being incompetent. Her fingers were sweating, and they wetted the paper of the packet so on one end, it was getting simply impossible to open without ruining the entire thing. Impatiently, she slapped the sugar onto the cart and turned it around, shaking it once to let out some sourness with it, and ripped the other side off with a menacing flourish.

Her grandfather stared at her out of the corner of his eye the entire time, and when she was finished and began to pour the sugar into her coffee, he said, "What's wrong, kiddo? Where'd that happy face go?"

She breathed out her frustrations. "I'm just not really used to this place yet," she said thinly between tightly pressed lips.

"Is there something you don't like about the town?" her grandmother queried.

TenTen turned to her, and diplomatically submitted to explain. "I just find it a little strange. But that's just because I haven't been here before, I know."

"Well." Her grandfather laughed, a throaty, hoarse, sad little laugh that slurred in his mouth and came out a subtle ruse. "Well, that's just…redundant. Superfluous, I may say." TenTen stared at him in surprise. It was rare he got so haughty of her. He leaned forward with a creak of his bed and a crack of his bones, and looked straight into her eyes in a gentle, fatherly manner. "TenTen," he said, "no one it supposed to fall in love with anything the moment they see it. You don't have to feel like a lesser person than us. You don't need to find it appropriate to need to exceed our expectations."

"I never said that."

"Oh, but you feel it," he said. He leaned back, raising a bony grey finger and lifting his eyebrows in significance. "I'm not tryin' to sweeten you up or anything, dear, but just to let you know; you're not going to like this place until you find something about it to like."

And that, to TenTen, was the sanest thing she had heard since she had been introduced to this lunatic town.

Because it was true; that was the only way it was possible.

.

TenTen was early. It was refreshing, because the day before she'd had very little time before Ino and Naruto had arrived. Today, she had _four_ minutes.

She whipped the door open, nearly getting punched in the face by Naruto's fist, which was raised into yet another persistent knock. Ino's face curved into a grin at the sight of her as she flung Naruto's hand out of the way. "TenTen, sweetie, you are the cutest thing I have ever seen."

"Uh, thanks," she said uncertainly, looking them over. It seemed today's color was red; a red button-up and a red blouse. She'd never seen red look so good with blonde before. Ino even had a red ribbon in her hair. TenTen felt washed out in her cream sweater and gold skirt.

"Well let's get going," Naruto declared as TenTen closed the door cautiously behind her. Her grandmother had, by now, gotten used to her leaving around this time. She thought it was good TenTen was getting used to the town. TenTen wished she wasn't allowed outside of the house or hospital.

She noticed Ino and Naruto beginning to march to the left, and asked, "Isn't it the other way?"

"We're going to pick up Sasuke," Ino said. "He's MIA."

"What?"

"_Missing In Action_," Naruto articulated loudly.

"I…I knew that," TenTen said quickly, embarrassed, and hurried along after them. As usual, they had a bubbly vivacity that almost glittered the air around them, their arms hooked together, pulling on each other's hair and shoving each other from side to side…TenTen couldn't help but laugh as she watched them from behind.

"And here we are…"

TenTen stumbled and tried not to trample over the backs of Ino's ankles. They stood in front of a small dark house.

Three places down from her grandmother's.

It took a while for TenTen to say anything at all, but after a while she asked cautiously, "He lives here…?"

"Yeah! Convenient, right?" Naruto asked happily as Ino tugged them along by their sleeves.

"You failed to tell me that he was right down the street from me?" TenTen gathered while they rounded the porch steps and Ino poked the doorbell churlishly.

Ino shrugged, turning to TenTen. "I guess so. Silly, right?"

Right. "I guess…"

"What do you want?"

TenTen jumped skittishly, whipping around to stare at Sasuke, who had banged out of his front door in a moody wave of what TenTen could only call an arbitrary and very-uncalled-for anger. "Hey, play-dough-head!" Naruto, however, was un-intimidated. He skipped over to prod at the boy's cheek, calling hoarsely, "Wakey-wakey!"

"Please shut up, you insignificant dip-shit."

"Sasuke!" Ino cried, seeming surprised at his indelicacy. "You are in the presence of ladies."

"I only see one," he said, staring right at TenTen, who shivered involuntarily. There was a loud smack that echoed around the street, and Sasuke glowered a second later as he recovered wordlessly and rubbed his arm. Ino flung her bangs out of her eyes. "I'm sorry I had to do that, but you asked for it," she declared in what she obviously thought was well-put reason. "Now let's go."

While trying to parry Naruto's frequent wanton yanks at his collar, trying to get him to step out of his doorway, Sasuke mumbled, "I was fixing my hair, why do you guys have to bother me?"

"What, you can't step away from your mirror for one second to hang out with your best —_Oww_! _Sas_uke, was that really necessary?!"

"Yes, Naruto, it is also necessary to…What's so funny?"

All three of them froze and stared at TenTen, who was leaning over, trying to drown her laughs. She blushed horribly, but the bubbling persistence wouldn't stop. Why she suddenly found Sasuke so funny, she didn't know, but Naruto and Ino seemed to find it hilarious as well, and at least Sasuke wasn't hitting her. Although he definitely had the intent.

.

TenTen felt like the victim of some sort of inelegant prank. This couldn't actually be happening.

"I _said_, 'What's shakin', bacon?'"

"…And _I_ said 'What?'" TenTen retorted grouchily, staring numbly up at Kiba. He had a stuffed pig in his hands, and as soon as TenTen had rounded the corner to 'The Spot' with Ino, Naruto and Sasuke arguing behind her, he'd jumped in front of her out of nowhere and threw out of his mouth to her the gauche question which she didn't exactly catch with both hands.

Kiba sighed, seeming disappointed. "TenTen, you're doing it _wrong_!"

"That's it, you've failed the test." Kiba's boyfriend came out from behind him with a chirpy frown. "This isn't good, TenTen. Isn't good."

"Just shut up, you guys, you're so annoying," Karin snapped brusquely from atop Sai's car, which Sai himself was inside of, laughing rowdily. She caught TenTen's eye, and waved her over with a smile. TenTen obeyed, trudging over to the car, noticing Neji and Gaara sitting on the curb next to each other, watching her over their shoulders. Neji gave her a small wave, and she didn't return it, pretending not to notice and looking up at Karin, who hopped down from the car and brushed herself off.

Just like yesterday, she was dressed in tight, revealing clothes, and TenTen could see the straps of her swimsuit poking from under her sleeves. Her hair, was something TenTen _really_ had to get jealous about. It was this beautiful candy-apple red, matching her set of large, smooth eyes. "Sorry about that," Karin said nodding to Kiba, who was playing around with Ino and the stuffed pig. "It's kind of a thing around here. You're supposed to hit your head and say 'Nothin', muffin!' or something like that."

TenTen laughed a little as Karin shrugged. "I don't think I have the caliber for that," TenTen admitted with a shy smile.

Karin grinned. "You're adorable."

TenTen blushed automatically. This was the second time someone had told her this, and this time, it was someone with a bit of _sense_ in them. "Um, than—"

"—You're so shy, TenTen, you cutie-pie." TenTen winced and stumbled out of the way quickly as Naruto tottered over, dragging Sasuke with him. "Right, Sasuke?"

Karin glared at the blonde. "Naruto, stop bugging him, can't you see he's tired of you?"

"_Thank_ you," Sasuke groaned aloud, shoving Naruto's hands off his shoulder. "Besides, I don't care about TenTen."

"Uh…Sasuke, that's a little uncalled for," Karin said, eyes widening and gesturing to TenTen. "Don't you think you're being a little rude?"

"Um, that's okay…" TenTen started to say, but her voice faded as Sasuke strode past she and Karin and over to Neji and Gaara moodily.

"Hey! Get back here!" Naruto cried, scurrying after Sasuke. "You still haven't told me what a nomenclature is!"

Karin sighed and smiled guiltily to TenTen. "Yeah, he can be a bit of an ass sometimes…But he really is a sweetie at heart!" She seemed to be quite intent on this benchmark.

"Everyone seems to really like him," TenTen said, trying to find some good in the situation.

Karin cleared her throat. "Mhm."

TenTen stared at Karin. Maybe she _didn't_ have too much sense left in her. She seemed to be pretty much into him herself. "Huh…" She turned to look at Sasuke as he sat next to Neji. Neji was saying something calmly to the pestering Naruto, probably trying to chase him away and leave Sasuke alone.

"So, um…" TenTen glanced back to Karin, who was shifting cumbersomely, observing TenTen's behavior with an intent TenTen could not quite place. "How do _you_ like him?"

TenTen turned back to Sasuke, and saw something interesting. He sneezed, and then wiped his nose on his sleeve. TenTen grimaced. "Well, I think he's a little gross."

Karin laughed aloud from beside her almost doubtfully. "Gross?" she asked, amused. "What do you mean by that?"

TenTen shrugged. "Anyone who wipes their nose on their sleeve is gross, in my opinion."

"_Oh_, I see." Karin was giggling however, and TenTen felt the need to defend herself. "It's not just _that_," she said with a frown, glaring at the boy who sat on the curb glumly, trying to ignore Naruto while Neji patted his shoulder empathetically. "He's…cool, I guess. And good-looking."

Karin stopped laughing gradually, catching her breath and listening. TenTen sighed. "I don't know. I just don't' see why those are any reasons for…" She shook her head. "No, never mind."

She faced Karin again. Karin was smiling at her, but her hand was fidgeting with her glasses. TenTen smiled back at her.

.

She didn't really know how it had happened exactly, but here she was. Sitting in Ichiraku's with her plate of cheesecake in front of her on the table, and across from that, was Sasuke, sitting in the very corner of the booth and staring moodily out the window, his breath fogging up the glass and his eyes unfocussed and blurry. Occasionally his hand darted up to his mouth, and he took a nibble of his cranberry bread.

Ino and Naruto had come over to Karin and TenTen after a while ecstatically back at The Spot, shrieking something about an email alert they'd gotten from American Eagle about an absolutely enormous sale going on for only the next couple hours. The rest of the group went wild, and in the throng they bribed Neji and Sai into driving them to the mall (apparently Neji had a car of his own, usually parked back at his house), leaving only Sasuke behind with the order to take TenTen out to lunch and meet the rest of them back at The Spot in about two hours; or else.

TenTen sank her fork into her cheesecake with glum dissatisfaction. This wasn't exactly how she'd expected the day to go by. She'd heard Ino talking about how people in town were supposed to be _so nice_ to "newbies", but here she was abandoning TenTen like a lost puppy.

She slipped a forkful of the cheesecake into her mouth, trying to calm herself in the mystery of the flavor. Sasuke had gone up to get the cheesecake without a word, not telling her what kind it was even as he returned from the counter and gave it to her. Although, it _tasted_ like blueberry. It was the same, dark flavor that twisted her taste buds and confused her for just a second. The feeling that she wasn't sure whether she was supposed to love it or hate it, but settled with liking it, because liking it was always enough.

She quickly continued to eat, and decided the silence wasn't going to help her, especially since Sasuke kept looking up to her, then out the window again. "This is blueberry, right?" she asked between forkfuls. Sasuke didn't answer, just pushed some more cranberry bread between his lips. He really was a sloppy eater

TenTen nodded anyways and continued. "My mom likes to make blueberry pies a lot. I know the taste." She swallowed some of it, and licked her dry lips, watching Sasuke. There were crumbs falling fro his mouth, and a bit of cranberry stained his lips.

"You know," she said with a small laugh. "You kind of remind me of her. She's always so quiet, especially when working on those art projects she's so obsessed with. She always seems to perfect and pretty, but she's kind of unsanitary, and she eats sloppy. Just like you." TenTen laughed again. Sasuke just glared at her, then glared at his knuckles, then glared at the window. Glares, glares, glares. TenTen wondered if his brow wasn't in pain. "She's…really pretty." TenTen sighed and stared at her cheesecake glumly. "I didn't really get her good looks. But I guess what I've got is enough to get by."

Sasuke sighed. "What do you want? You're not trying to get me to pay for the meal, are you?"

"N-No!"

Sasuke's eyes followed two little boys tottering by outside the window. They were throwing hacky sacks up in the air and letting them fall again into their palms. They were quite good-looking.

"…So…" TenTen fidgeted with her plate. She really disliked awkward meals. Preferred listening to people talking about yesterday or last year. But Sasuke didn't even look up at her. TenTen stuck her tongue in her cheek, beginning to feel uncomfortable. "Well," she said as lightheartedly as she could. "You seem to be very…sequestered."

"What?"

"You're very reserved," TenTen explained hurriedly, in a rush to make sure she hadn't insulted him. His eyes flicked up to her for only a split second before they drifted back down to whatever quarry they were interested in.

TenTen could not repress the small huff that came from her, and Sasuke unwillingly was drawn to her attention. "What?" he muttered at last, not bothering to look at her.

"Nothing, it's just…" The words failed her. Desperate to find something to excuse herself with, TenTen set her elbows on the table, and threaded her fingers together. "I…I can't seem to figure out why everyone is in love with you."

His eyes slowly turned back up to her. TenTen noticed and continued hastily "I-I don't mean to insult…I mean…"She gestured at him sharply. "You're good-looking! You are! But is that any reason to go chasing after you like you're a demigod? I admit, you're really cool, but doesn't that mean you deserve someone who will care about _you_? Not the _cool_ you, the you that…that eats sloppily, and wipes his nose with his sleeve, and obsesses over his hair too much…"

TenTen slowed down, seeing his eyes, large and bright and interested, completely trained on her. She realized she'd been leaning forward on the table, and immediately retreated to slouching back in the chair timidly. "That's…" She coughed. "That's who matters. You're not perfect, is what I wanna say, and that's why…" She scratched her bottom lip. "I'm comfortable around you, Sasuke. And I think you really deserve someone like that." She finished up with a small, modest, "That's what I was trying to say", steering her gaze away from him and down to the table top.

There was a small noise, however, that brought it back. Sasuke was setting down his wallet, and now he began to fish around inside it. He pulled out some money, glanced at her empty plate and foam cup, and slapped a few dollars and coins onto the table.

All that could make it's way out of TenTen's mouth regarding the small mystery was "Wait, why…", but he gave her a look that shut her up, and said, "Come on," and that was the last time she questioned it.

.

When they got back to The Spot, the others were predictably in place. TenTen immediately went over to sit next to Neji on the hood of the car, a little exhausted. Sasuke had dragged her out of Ichiraku's like a shark was after them, and his grip was not exactly gentle.

"TenTen!" Ino sang happily from the roof of the car, where she sat next to Karin. "How was lunch?"

"Sorry we had to make you hang out with _Sasuke_," Naruto said, grinning at the boy who glared at him. "I know he's an ass."

"No, that's okay." TenTen smiled. "He's nice." Naruto raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, because Sai, Kiba and Kankerou stole his attention when they started talking about CD's.

"He's nice?"

TenTen faced Neji. "Huh?"

"You said he's 'nice'," Neji repeated, tilting his head to the side as he watched her. "What do you mean by that?"

TenTen shrugged nervously. "Um…He's just…nice, I guess. I dunno what…" Her voice faded when Neji's hand suddenly darted out to her hair. "…Uh…?"

Neji smiled reassuringly. "You have something in your hair, I'm just removing it for you," he explained simply. He plucked a little red fuzz from her bangs, and flicked it away.

TenTen resisted the exasperated groan building up in her and laughed nervously. "Eh, thanks…?"

Neji blinked in confusion. "You don't have to thank me. Your hair is lovely."

TenTen blushed. "…U-Um…Okay…" Flustered, she turned around to watch Ino and Karin play around with the stuffed pig from earlier, trying to find a reason to not look at Neji. She really didn't understand why someone would find a thank you or the fact that she'd called someone nice as surprising…

She noticed something, suddenly. She barely did, but she saw it. Karin and Naruto were both watching Sasuke distractedly. Sure, they turned back to their individual interests of choice, but often they turned to stare at the boy, and both of them seemed a little confused. Because a reluctant smile had snuck it's way onto Sasuke's lips.

TenTen smiled as well, turning around and ignoring the strange looks Neji was giving her. She had to admit, that when Sasuke smiled, he looked a lot better. And the better he looked, the better she felt.

"Should I wear my hair up tomorrow, do you think?" she asked aloud.

"Sure," Neji said with a shrug. "That would look nice."

Her grandfather was right. She had to look for something yet that she'd love about this place. But for now, she might as well enjoy the things she _didn't _love. Maybe the things that she _liked_, the things that were _worth _liking. Because liking something was always enough.

_Dark thick crust crowned with blueberry topping and a dash of whipped cream._

Author's Note: Sorry about the wait, and all the small changes I was forced to make here and there regarding this story. I really want to do a good job with this, and all the changes were indeed necessary. Either way, I'm glad you all approve of it. Even if it is a little weird.

What to Expect: Kiba. Kankerou. Brownie. Luck.


End file.
